Actor Matthew Modine on Will Smith: We 'Should Not Applaud Nor Give a Standing Ovation' to Abusers

Actor Matthew Modine reacted to actor Will Smith attacking comedian Chris Rock at this year’s Oscars, stating, “we certainly should not applaud nor give a standing ovation” to abusers.

“If a child violently strikes another child in a playground, we don’t give the abuser cake & we certainly should not applaud nor give a standing ovation to the abuser,” Modine tweeted on Tuesday.

“Acting is child’s play complicated by high financial stakes & loud public criticism,” he added, along with the hashtag, [We Are Not Our Characters].

If a child violently strikes another child in a playground, we don’t give the abuser cake & we certainly should not applaud nor give a standing ovation to the abuser.

Acting is child’s play complicated by high financial stakes & loud public criticism#WeAreNotOurCharacters

— Matthew Modine (@MatthewModine) March 29, 2022

Modine was reacting to Will Smith walking onto the Oscars stage on Sunday night and smacking Chris Rock across the face after the comedian made a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.

Rock had joked about Pinkett Smith’s short hair — which she has due to alopecia — by referring to her as “G.I. Jane.” It remains unclear if Rock knew about her condition when he made the joke.

After the joke was made, Smith got out of his seat, marched onto the stage, and promptly struck Rock in the face, before returning to his seat and twice shouting, “Keep my wife’s name out out your fucking mouth!” — a shocking and cringeworthy moment for audience members and viewers.

***LANGUAGE WARNING***

This type of thuggish behavior has no place in civilized society. Will Smith needs to be charged for assault. pic.twitter.com/MydlQBTqBT

— Brigitte Gabriel (@ACTBrigitte) March 28, 2022

Modine is not the only actor to condemn Smith for his actions on Sunday night. Many in Hollywood turned on the actor, referring to his behavior as a display of “toxic masculinity,” calling his excuses for hitting Rock “bullshit,” and demanding Smith apologize to the comedian.

On Monday night, Smith took to Instagram to apologize to Rock directly, after initially omitting the comedian from his apology on Sunday, when he first apologized while collecting his award for Best Actor in King Richard.

“I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris,” Smith said. “I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness.”

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